Sleeping Spark
by AshleyOnFire
Summary: After being best friends all through high school, Katniss, Peeta and Gale rent a house together for their first year of college. Katniss has always had eyes for Gale and Peeta for her. What happens when all three of them come crashing into adulthood? AU. T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: After being out of the Fanfiction game for a while, I'm jumping back in with The Hunger Games! I don't own any of the characters. Please Read and Review! Enjoy!**

Sleeping Spark

Chapter One

Katniss Everdeen surveyed the work that still needed to be done. With every box she packed, it seemed that more belongings would spring up from the floor boards to stake claim on the newly cleared space. Feeling overwhelmed, Katniss glanced nervously at the clock wondering if all this could possibly be done in the little time she had left. In a few short days, she would be a college Freshmen. She never thought this day would come. The day that she competed for through all 4 years of high school.

There were a very limited number of scholarships available to a non District 7 citizen and with Katniss, Prim and her mother barley scrapping by, a scholarship was her only way out of the poverty ridden District 12. With this thought, Katniss was gripped with the anxiety that comes from the pressure to succeed at one of the District's top colleges, Cypress University, so she could make a better life for her mother and sister. Only District 1's Klein University, out ranked it and it was so selective that no one from District 12 had ever been accepted.

The clock on Katniss's wall chimed eight and she resigned herself to the fact that she would not be able to bring all of this mess with her. The thought of leaving everything behind started to become a welcome thought. A fresh start in a new place. New opportunities. Though Katniss knew that some parts of her life here would follow her to District 7. Thankfully, those parts would have been the hardest for her to leave behind. Gale and Peeta, her two best friends were also attending Cypress and to help ease the shock of college, they agreed to rent a house together near campus. Though, if Katniss was being entirely honest with herself, she had jumped at the chance to live under the same roof as Gale. The very same Gale that she hoped would finally notice her as more than his slightly sassy best friend.

Her thoughts drifted to her first memory of Gale and Peeta. Being the first day of high school, Katniss was very lost and very late for her first class. Rushing through the door, she observed that the teacher had already separated the students into groups of three. She awkwardly made her way to the only group with two people. She was welcomed by Gale's dark hair and features and Peeta's warm eyes and blonde hair. And there it began. Katniss noticed almost right away how the other girls in school reacted to Gale and felt a pang of jealousy, which would be her first hint of how bad she had it for him.

Peeta, though much quieter and reserved then Gale, was brilliant in his own right. Peeta was easily accepted into Cypress and his baker parents had used their life savings to pay the steep tuition. Katniss found a true friend in Peeta straight away. Since Gale wasn't too interested in grades, Peeta and Katniss bonded over studying. She often caught him staring at her when she would look up from her book when they were studying in the library, but never thought much about it. It was over those piles of books and hours of cramming for tests, that Peeta fell silently in love with Katniss. But that first day, they looked at each other as lifeboats in the rough sea that was high school. And so it remained for the next 4 years.

The blow of a car horn brought Katniss back to earth as she raced to her window and pulled back the curtain. In the in the street in front of her house, Gale and Peeta waved from Gale's brand new car that was already brimming with boxes. How would she ever fit any of her things in there? She gave them a nervous smile and a wave before going to the doorway and yelling, "Prim! Come help me with all this down to the car!"

* * *

The clouds had just started to gather when the group pulled onto the street of their house, when Katniss suddenly became nervous.

"So, can I just reiterate how irresponsible we were for renting this place sight unseen?" Katniss yelled over the music from the back seat.

"What?" Gale yelled over his shoulder never taking his eyes off the road. With a small laugh Peeta reached over and turned off the radio.

"Well, I guess we'll see how that decision worked out. It's coming up here" Peeta said double checking the address from a slip of paper.

Gale put the car in park in front of a older two story yellow Victorian house. There is a collective sigh of relief as they exit the car to take in their new home.

"Well, we have one day to get this house in some kind of livable condition before classes start." Katniss said opening the hatch back of the car while simultaneously stopping the boxes that began to tumble out.

"Here" Peeta said rushing to her side and helping to start to pile the boxes on the curb.

"Thanks" Katniss said with a warm smile, clearly grateful for the help.

"I get first pick of a room!" Gale said still gazing at the house, oblivious to the fact that the unpacking has begun behind him.

"Gale, let's get the boxes into the house before this rain starts and then we can decide who gets what room" Peeta said playfully as he shoved a box into his arms and directed his body toward the house.

"Fine" Gale said defeated as he fished the keys to the house out of his pocket and headed for the door. Peeta turned back to see Katniss longingly watch Gale walk towards the house. He hoped that with them living together, it would bring Katniss and him closer together. That she would see, though he cared deeply for his best friend Gale, that he was a ladies man known for his lack of commitment when it came to girls and that if she tried to get involved with him, she would only get hurt. Peeta was steady, dependable and loyal. Peeta hoped she would see that eventually.

* * *

The room Katniss chose was at the end of the hallway that was lined with very dark wood. It was large and airy, painted a deep red with a beautiful bay window seat looking over the front yard. The boys had picked smaller, sightly more masculine rooms across the hall from each other. A knock on her door brought Katniss's attention away from the view from her window.

"You unpacked quickly" Gale said as he took a flying leap onto her bed. If it had been anyone else she would had been annoyed at someone so blatantly invading her private space, but it was Gale and he could almost do nothing wrong in her eyes.

"I guess so, you and Peeta didn't really leave me me much room to bring my stuff along" Katniss said with a smirk.

"You sorry about that. I had to bring my entire wardrobe, you know" He said folding his arms behind his head, getting comfortable. After a moment, his face took on a worried expression. "Kat, come here and sit with me"

Katniss wordlessly went to sit by his side on the bed.

"It's no secret that I only got into Cypress because my mother wrote a check. If I'm ever going to get through this year in one piece, I'm going to need you by my side. Can you do that?" Gale said taking her hand in his.

"Where else would I be?" Katniss said with a swelling heart and genuine smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Sleeping Spark

Chapter Two

Gale sauntered into this first Political Science class 5 minutes late. He tried his best to look as inconspicuous as possible as he snuck though the seats filled with students to the empty desks in the back.

"Well. Well. Well. I'm glad you could join us Mr.?"

Gale whipped around as he got tangled in the mess of desks. "Hawthorne. Gale Hawthorne." Gale managed to say and he found a seat.

"Okay, Mr. Hawthorne. Would you like to enlighten the class with your thoughts on the political repercussions of the Districts Peace talks?" removing his glasses from his nose and leaning against the front of his desk.

Panic quickly rose into Gale's throat. It was the first day of class. How could there be reading already assigned? Gale scanned the classroom and saw that all the other students even had their books and looked to be very informed on the subject matter.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know there was an assignment" Gale said as she sunk lower into his desk.

"The good looking, mysterious guy who comes in late, didn't know there was an assignment. It looks like you don't have your books either. What a surprise." Professor Williams said as he turned and gestured to a student that had their hand up. Humiliated, Gale could not believe his luck. This first class of his political science major and he was already dubbed as the handsome idiot. A wad of paper landing on his desk brought him back to reality. He opened the crumbled piece if paper and it read: _**Party at my place. Wanna come?**_Gale lifted his head searching for the source of the note and found it in a beautiful blonde smiling face.

"Hey" The girl whispered leaning closer to him. "Don't worry about Professor Williams. I've had him before and he doesn't like slackers. Not that you are one but he just doesn't like people showing up for class unprepared."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind" Gale said scrunching his eyebrows.

"So the party. This friday night. Meet after class and I give you my address."

"Is it ok for me to bring my friends?"

"Sure but no girlfriends" She said with a wink

"Don't worry, no one in the life meets that definition."

"UGH UMMMM" Professor Williams cleared his throat, quickly ended their conversation. Gale tried his best after that to pay attention.

"For those of you that are not yet aware, taking Art as a major is a very brave endeavor. Not many other majors will guarantee a lower pay and less job opportunities after graduation. But you will have the satisfaction that you followed your heart and your passion, which is more than most of the other majors can say"

Peeta tried to take in this interesting person that stood in front of the class. Her hair was done up in many tiny braids and she was wearing round glasses and had a far of look in her eye. He instantly liked her strange personality and her zest to live life by her own rules. He felt like he could learn a lot stepping out of his comfort zone from her.

"Before you can understand why and who you are, you must first understand your surroundings. Now, please turn to the person on your left and this will be your partner for the first part of the semester. Through art, you will see things through this person's eyes, therefore you will be exposed to a completely new world. So get comfortable with them."

Peeta turned to his left to see a beautiful girl who gave him a shrug and a shy smile. She had blonde hair to match his and piercing blue eyes.

"For your first assignment, you will be doing portraits of each other, with one object added to the portrait that you think describes the subject. And no peeking, your partner cannot know the object you are adding or see the finished product until the project is complete and showcased in class. Now let's start by getting to know each other a little better"

"Hey partner, I guess you're with me. I'm Kara." She said making the first move as she slid off her art stool and took Peeta's hand in hers.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Peeta" He said trying to ignore the chill that raced down his back as they shook hands. Kara was the first girl he had really noticed since he laid eyes on Katniss. Peeta silently scolded himself for somehow being unfaithful to the idea of him and Katniss.

"She's quite a trip isn't she?" Kara said nodding her head to the Art teacher that was now busy inspecting a purple crystal while the partners all got aquatinted.

"You could say that again, there is no one like her where I'm from" Peeta said honestly.

"And where is that?" Kara said sounding suddenly very interested.

"District 12. We don't have very many free spirits there." Peeta said feeling unimpressive.

"Well, you're here now. It's a great opportunity to meet all kinds of new people. I, on the other hand being from District 8, was ecstatic to have a change of scenery. Most people just get pigeoned holed into whatever life their District provides, I know how lucky I am to have a chance for something better"

Peeta felt exactly the same way about leaving District 12 but he was never able to articulate it like that.

"I know exactly what you mean" Peeta said with an understanding half smile. He was becoming more intrigued by his new friend every the minute.

Kara smiled widely at him and blushed as a thought crossed her mind.

"Do you maybe want to meet for coffee sometime, maybe non class related?" She said fumbling over her words.

This was much too real for Peeta. She was asking him out. Him. Peeta had lived with blinders on since Katniss walked into that fist class over four years ago and he wasn't sure he was entirely ready to give up that dream.

"I ummm... I probably shouldn't" He said avoiding her gaze while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Do you have a girlfriend or something?" She said in a slightly higher tone of voice.

"No, not technically, I have a someone. She's not my girlfriend."

"Ahh, ok I get it, you just want her to be. There really is no competing with those situations" Kara said cursing herself for ever opening her mouth.

"I'm sorry. Look, I'm really excited to be working with you."

"Thank you. Me too." Kara said with a genuine smile, thankful the mood had been lifted slightly.

"Ok everyone! That's all the time we have for today! Fly free birds into the light!" The extroverted teacher exclaimed raising her hands over her head.

Katniss was so enthralled by her Intro to Botany text book she didn't even notice the rest of the students filing in through the door. She had arrived to class 30 minutes early and was passing the extra time by getting a jump on the reading that was due next week. As she surveyed the other students that had begun to gather around her, she felt like she was finally in a like minded place. Katniss, Gale and Peeta had always felt like outsiders in District 12, but here she felt like everyone was looking to belong and therefore, they all belonged together. She never would have imagined that so many students would had been interested in Botany, but she was elated in their shared interest.

"Ok class, welcome to Intro to Botany. Today we will be discussing the basics of plant structure, which you should all already know since the reading was due for this class."

Katniss saw a few students advert their eyes from the teacher giving away their obvious lack of reading. She was proud of the fact that not only had she done the reading but that she was ahead. Katniss's heart soared as she felt she had taken her place in the world and everything was within her reach.

She picked Botany as her major because of her love of the earth and nature. With as much time as she spent in it, it only made her want to understand it completely and put that knowledge to good use. As much has she hated to admit it, her mother's passion for healing others had rubbed off on her. So much of nature was undiscovered and used to it's full potential, but that was something Katniss wanted to change.

That first day in class, Katniss was involved and enlightened in a way she had never been before. She truly felt like this was the first day of her future.


	3. Chapter 3

The first week of classes went quickly for the three friends. There were many Freshman events that they had to attend, on top of the work and assignments that was being handed out by their professors. When Friday night came, it was a relief for the three of them. They had worked hard and now they were going to their first college party that was being thrown by someone in one of Gale's classes.

Katniss flung another piece of clothing on to the growing pile on her bed. The pile of clothes she had rejected didn't leave her much to choose from. Sure she had been to parties before but this was her first adult college party. Something inside her told her that tonight would be a turning point for her and Gale. He had come to lead and confide in her more this week than in their 4 years of friendship combined and she could only hope that it was leading to something she had been wanting for a long time. Finally, she settled on white shorts and a pink scoop neck top. She met the boys at the bottom of the stairs and they set off to the party.

The party was in full swing when they arrived and it had spilled from the house into the front yard. When they entered, Gale was immediately greet by a beautiful girl.

"Peeta, Kat. This is Lex. She's in my Political Science class and this is her party."

Katniss was immediately threatened by the vibe that the two of them gave off. Like they had their own private joke that they didn't want the rest of the world in on. Katniss's excitement for the party quickly deflated when she could tell that Gale was attracted to Lex. Before anymore conversation could start, Lex and Gale disappeared into the crowd of people.

"You had to know he was going to dump us the minute we got here, right?" Peeta said thinking she should know better.

Katniss answered with a shrug.

"Come on. Let's get something to drink" Peeta put his arm around Katniss's shoulders and lead her into the kitchen.

The kitchen was packed with people and Peeta and Katniss had to fight their way to the line for the drinks. When the girl in front of Peeta turned around with her drink, she knocked into him almost spilling the entirety of her drink down the front of his shirt.

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry, it's just so crowded in here" She said wiping some drops from her drink from the front of her blouse. Then she looked up and said, "Peeta!"

"Kara! Hi! Yeah, it's crazy in here. Kara, this is my friend Katniss." Peeta said handing a drink over to Katniss.

"It's nice to meet you" They both said simultaneously and then Kara turned her attention back to Peeta.

Kara couldn't believe her luck. Here little crush on Peeta had only been growing with every class they had together and now she finally had a chance to get to know him better outside of school.

Katniss felt like a third wheel as they went on and on about their current Art project, so she quietly snuck out of the kitchen and into the living room.

It was of course, packed with people as well and she didn't recognize a single one. She made small talk with people, trying to find something in common until it was time to leave and she could put this horrible party behind her. After one last glance at her watch, she saw it was well after 2am and went to try and find the boys to go home.

She fought her way up the stairs to the upper floor and searched through the bedrooms that had been converted to several beer pong rooms. When she came to the end of the hall, one door was open a few inches. Suddenly, what was happening in the room came into focus. Gale and Lex were heavily making out, both topless. Katniss quickly turned away and ran down the stairs pushing people out of the way as she went. By the time she reached the kitchen she was blinded by tears and ran right into Peeta.

"Woah! Woah! Kat what's wrong? What's happened?" Peeta said grabbing her by the shoulders and looking wildly around the party to see if someone was coming after her. Katniss couldn't speak through her sobbing, so Peeta immediately took her out the front door and sat her down on the front steps.

"Now, tell me what the hell is going on!" Peeta said losing his patience.

Katniss took a few deep breaths, trying to collect herself. "I'm sorry. I just saw Gale and Lex in her room. Together" She said through hiccups.

Gale took a deep breath and put his face in his hands. "Katniss, this crush you've had on Gale cannot go on. He's not a good boyfriend. He's barely a good friend. Even if he did return your feelings he would only hurt you."

"I know. I'm done with it. I really am. It's just. Why not me? What's wrong with me?" Katniss said as she began to shed brand new tears.

"Listen to me. There is nothing wrong with you. Nothing. Any guy would be lucky to be with you. I know I would be." Peeta said then realizing he had said too much.

Katniss immediately stopped crying and looked up at Peeta through her tears. "You would?"

"Um.. I just meant that." He was silenced by Katniss's lips smashing against his. His eyes went wide in surprise but he did not pull away.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Things were awkward in the house after the party. After the kiss, Katniss had profusely apologized and found her own way home. They still spoke to each other around the house but it was guarded and awkward. Gale just didn't understand what everyone's problem was and went about his life as usual.

The rejection cut Peeta deeply. He was angry and fed up with his obsession with Katniss. He had been accepted to the best university in the districts and he had followed Gale and Katniss here. Did he regret it? If he was truthful, no, he didn't. Regardless of who he followed here, he felt that he belonged here. He promised himself that he would no longer allow the dream of Katniss to be a priority in his life and he made good on that promise the next time he was in his art class.

"Kara" Peeta said as he leaned over his desk to get her attention, "Would you like to get something to eat tonight after class?"

Kara eyes lit up at his suggestion, "Yeah I would love that."

"Great" Peeta said with a forced smile. He needed to move on. This would be good for him.

* * *

That evening, Katniss sat in her bay window watching the bustling street below. She hadn't been able to concentrate on much since the night of the party. Between seeing Gale with Lex and her kiss with Peeta, she didn't know which way was up.

She was touched by the things that Peeta had said to comfort her on the front stairs of the house that night. Feelings had awoken within her that she never knew existed. Did Peeta feel the same? Had he always? She felt foolish and stupid for following Gale around like a puppy dog for so long and he never even noticed her.

She was brought out of her thoughts as she heard the front door slam. She sat up on her knees to get a better look at the front yard. When she saw Kara and Peeta cutting across the yard in the direction of the student union, she felt an unfamiliar tug at her heart. She had to talk to Peeta. She watched them as they disappeared from sight, Peeta's blonde hair lit by the sun.

* * *

Katniss was still sitting there when she saw Peeta coming back across the lawn to the house. A desperation rose in her and she leapt from the window seat and flew down the stairs. She reached the ground floor as he was opening the front door.

"Hey" She said before he saw her.

"Hey" Peeta said surprised. She had avoided him for days.

"Can we talk?" Katniss said taking a seat on the couch.

"Um. Sure." Peeta said taking a seat suddenly very nervous.

"How was your afternoon?" Katniss said trying to be polite and ease into the conversation.

"It was fine. Went and got some food with Kara at the student union." Peeta said not making eye contact with her.

"Oh." Katniss said disappointed, "How was that?"

"It was fine... look Katniss, what's this about? You kiss me out of nowhere and then avoid me for days." Peeta said not able to take the tension anymore.

"I'm sorry." Katniss said ashamed.

"Yeah you said that. Look I know you think you made a mistake the night of the party, but we're going to have to work this out. We are going to be living together for the rest of the year."

"What? Mistake?" Katniss said confused.

"The kiss, Katniss" Peeta said annoyed that he had to remind her.

"I admit springing the kiss on you in response to my feelings for Gale was a mistake, but what it made me realize wasn't." Katniss said taking his hand.

"And what was that?" Peeta asked his mouth suddenly dry.

"You are the only one who has always been there for me. The one looking out for me. Not Gale. I'm just sorry that I didn't realize it until now." Katniss whispered.

"So, what exactly are you saying?" Peeta said wanting a clear conversation.

"How about you have dinner with me? A real date, with a guy I really like." Katniss asked.

"I'd like that." Peeta said. All of the time he had spend talking himself into leaving a romance with Katniss in the past flew out of his head. He was in love with her. He always had been. There was nothing that could save him from that. He didn't want to be.

Katniss got up off the couch and started up the stairs but stopped after she had climbed a few stairs.

"Oh and I'll be expecting a kiss at the end of our date" Katniss said turning back to him with a smile and then running he rest of the way upstairs.

Peeta remained on the couch, stunned. If all this mess what what it took for Katniss to notice him and give them a chance, then he would endure it again a thousand times.

The End.


End file.
